Editorial

15:58 JST, January 22, 2026

No matter how harsh the family environment behind the crime may have been, acts of violence to settle grudges are absolutely unforgivable. The judicial decision to impose a strict punishment on the defendant is appropriate.

In the case of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe being shot to death, the Nara District Court in a lay judge trial sentenced defendant Tetsuya Yamagami to life in prison, as requested by the prosecution, for charges including murder.

The ruling found that the defendant fatally shot Abe with a homemade gun while the latter was giving a campaign speech for a House of Councillors election in Nara City in July 2022. The defendant pleaded guilty in the first hearing of his trial last October, saying the charges against him were “all true.” The focus of the trial was how to determine the severity of the........

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